Sei sulla pagina 1di 6

LADY SAW, I STOLE YOUR MAN.

A THINK PEICE.
SHEREEZ KHAN
Tracking Number: 2770

ID: 813006383

NAME: Shereez Khan


2770

I.D. NUMBER: 813006383

TRACKING NUMBER:

Lady Saw, also known as Marion Hall, is a contemporary dancehall artist and was
born on the 12 of July 1972 in the parish of St. Mary, Jamaica. She belonged to an
extended family in rural Jamaica. Lady Saw. Wikipedia.com, 17 May, 2015. Web. 12
Sept, 2015. During an interview with Joshua Jelly-Schapiro she explained that her
singing talents took root in her avid church going habits and in her teen years, she
moved to Kingston where, for a while, she worked as a seamstress in a sweatshop
before rising to fame as Lady Saw, the dancehall queen (Believermag.com).
Because of the diversity of the Caribbean populous, one can expect this to be
reflected in its music and culture. Dancehall being one of the many genres from
Jamaica, is an offspring of reggae and according to Marie C Beuth, it started out in
the 80s with the emergence of digital music in the industry and is usually crude,
conveying images of sex and violence (Quora.com). Marion Hall as a dancehall artist
is an unsuitable role model and a medium of propagation for the objectification of
women because of her stage persona that promotes chicanery and female sexual
promiscuity, most specifically in her single named Ive Got Your Man.
With the advent of the digital age and the ubiquity of the internet, the exposure of
unsuitable content to children is occurring. Lady Saws blatant innuendo and
obvious explicit messages in Ive Got Your Man is hardly of role model material
and seeks to demoralise and corrupt the youth. According to a study done by Alexay
D. Crawford, the youths are easily influenced by the lyrical content of these songs,
and they try to imitate the sexual and violent acts conveyed. The study also
indicated that increased sex drive and urges to carry out violence occurred with the
influence of dancehall (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). The desensitization of the youth with
respect to these sexual activities make it much easier and volatile to be carried out
when it seems so normal to them. With the notion of how much these artists and
their music affects the young ones, one can see that the persona portrayed in Lady
Saws Ive Got Your Man would surely encourage infidelity, sexual objectification
and the rise in STI transmissions as well as teenage pregnancies. In concluding one
can only say that dancehall plays an integral role in the lives of individuals in
society which is affecting it negatively because they are highly influenced by the
dancehall industry however, it is leading to a downfall in society where the youths
are concerned. Therefore, there is indeed a relationship between hardcore dancehall
genre and the sexual and violent behavior of youths (Shantel McIntosh). A well
known singer like Hall is no doubt talented and is extremely influential as an icon
and needs to be wary of her audience as well as what she propagates onto them.
If one was to inspect the statistics of deaths due to diseases each year, one would
observe that a substantial number belongs to those caused by sexually transmitted
ones. The number of people in possession of an STI being even higher. Not to
mention teenage pregnancies. Halls video accompanying her song was a beckon to
polygamy and frequent non marital sex. It also served as a medium for such

activities to seem normal and okay to carry out which as aforementioned would
affect the minds of developing youth in addition to influencing of the adults.
Desensitivity and a sex drive empowered by sexually explicit lyrics and imagery in
songs like Ive Got Your Man, would result in an increase in sexual activity in
adults and youths. In the study by Alexay D. Crawford, it was found, In support of
the findings of this study, the literature reveals that music (especially in the
dancehall genre) has influence on sexual behavior (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). Jodie-Kaye
Watson on her commentary of Jamaican society said that sexually transmitted
diseases are on the continuous rise in the country and promiscuous behavior have
become one of the many reasons for an overwhelming increase in the number of
HIV/AIDS and STD cases (Yardflex.com).
The music video also portrays women scantily clad performing overtly sexually
suggestive dance moves as if they have no respect for themselves. The song
speaks of pleasing your man and keeping him happy just so he wont go to
another woman for what he wants. This indubitably induces a mindset of paranoia
of losing your man and subsequently removes any sense of self worth in women.
It is basically saying that if you cannot appease and please sexually, you arent of
any worth and this mentality stems from the content of dancehall music which
induces a high importance on sex and this is reflected in Jamaican culture. Charissa
Granger wrote Women have taken on this musical projection to the point where;
upon entering any dancehall rave one would easily behold women strutting their
prowess on the floor, tables, poles and walls (Worldpopmusics.wordpress.com).
Music produced by Marion and other dancehall artists have induced stereotypes in
Caribbean society of women which they follow because of the genres popularity
and audience. Charissa also goes on to say that the genre has brought about a
devaluation in self perception (of women) and a form of social dominance (of men
over women) in terms of gender relations (Worldpopmusics.wordpress.com). Lady
Saw, herself being female, singing about treating your man right contributes to
the prior claims of her not being a suitable role model. She is in essence capitalizing
on whatever is expected from the genre and is sacrificing her self-worth and respect
publicly while subsequently degrading the mentality of women in the Caribbean.
Marion Halls song seems to be sympathetic to males under the facade of an
empowered woman exercising her dominance, stealing another womans man and
getting what she wants. But most of the content is solely based on why the male
partner left the antagonist for the protagonist and how to keep him satisfied, to
keep another woman off of his mind. The piece also encourages Take care of
your man or else you lose your turn. This ties in with the point of female
objectification. The video seems to be about a strong independent woman who has
her own car and restaurant going and getting what she desires but really and truly
the real beneficiary here is the male. As discussed previously, this would in turn
affect the societal behavior of women. This guise of empowerment is discussed by
Mehereen Aziz when she said that female pop artists who flaunt their bodies do not

induce a sense of empowerment in women, but encourages them to sell their


bodies and to be viewed as pieces of meat by the opposite sex
(Thoughtcatalog.com). Ive got your man encourages degradation of the female
mentality and the focusing on the importance of sexual gratification on their male
counterparts. It beguiles to the notion that it is unfettering for women to dress
scantily and behave dissolutely.
One can argue that artists like Marion Hall are great assets to Jamaica and
Caribbean culture as well as a medium for international recognition and beneficial in
terms of globalization. Dancehall is a large source of income for Jamaica. It is also a
medium of empowerment and upliftment for the poor and destitute in the slums.
Artists like Lady Saw can be seen as advantageous creative minds, but only to an
extent. The bad certainly does outweigh the good. Caribbean society affected by
such vulgar music is taking a turn for the worst and will continue to do so. If only
these dancehall kings and queens would utilize their power of influence for moral
upliftment and healing of society. The building blocks of tomorrows Caribbean
society, the youths, are being corrupted by the likes of Lady Saw. The backbone of
the next generation, the women, the mothers are being degraded and devalued by
songs like Ive Got Your Man. The world is innately and subliminally influenced by
their recreational activities. Be it sports, gaming, music, shows, movies. These
become the environment in which the brain develops, learns about and how to react
with the world; the reality becomes as such. Nowadays such music and similarly
themed visual media is so ubiquitous that one may have to become isolated from
civilization in order to escape it. What does this say about humanity and its position
as a social species as well as how far away it is from where it needs to be?

BIBLIOGRPAHY
Aziz, Mehereen. "I Dont Feel Empowered By Female Pop Artists Who Flaunt
Their Bodies." Web. 15 Sept. 2015.
C Beauth, Marie. "What Is the Difference between Dancehall and Reggae Music?"
Quora. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.
D. Crawford, Alexay. "National Center for Biotechnology Information." Web. 16 Sept.
2015.
Granger, Charissa. "The Objectification of Women in Dancehall." Popular Musics of
the World. 6 June 2011. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.
Jelly-Schapiro, Joshua. "The Believer Magazine." Believer Magazine. Web. 15 Sept.
2015.
McIntosh, Shantel. "DANCEHALL "MUZIK" HAS NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON JAMAICAN
YOUTHS." Vibranttalk. 14 Mar. 2012. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.
Watson, Jodie-Kaye. "Dance Hall Music and Jamaican Society." YardFlex.com. Web.
16 Sept. 2015.
Lady Saw. Wikipedia.com, 17 May, 2015. Web. 12 Sep, 2015.

Potrebbero piacerti anche